War Hero
by honeynutmaryse
Summary: Cato was everything his dad wanted him to be. He was a war hero, a soldier. It was everything he wanted until he met Katniss. He found what he was missing but at what cost?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: This is a little story that`s been brewing in my head for a bit. I've taken some inspiration from the song **_**Hero of War**_** by Rise Against. It`s going to be a short one but I just had to put it out there. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters belong to Ms. Collins and the concept is all Rise Against, though it`s been tweaked to suit my purposes. **

Name: Cato Rikerman  
Age: 40  
Title: Retired Lieutenant Colonel, Special Forces Squad Commander, United States Marine Corps  
Marital Status: divorced  
Children: 2 (1 boy, 1 girl)

That's pretty much my life in a nutshell. I was what they called an army brat. My father, a proud soldier, told me all my life that the best way to see the world and get paid for it is to join the army. It was the best job in the world. People respected you for representing your country. And all you had to do was carry a gun. _Yeah. Right._

My dad was my hero for the longest time. He was the best dad a boy could have. So naturally, I wanted to be like him. As a result, from the time I was 5 until I was 30, all I wanted to do was serve my country and make my dad proud. So, I trained.

As a kid, I took up wrestling and martial arts. When I got old enough, I started training with weapons and weights. Dad even took me to the base to train so that I could go through the basic training exercises. The day I graduated high school, I enlisted. I was 18.

I received my orders to report to the Base so I could start basic training two weeks later. They cut off my hair and that's when my career started. After about a week of training, the trainers started commenting on my natural abilities as a soldier.

"Who taught you to shoot like that, Cadet?" That's what they called us recruits...

"My father, Sir." I belted out in the same tone as my Commanding Officer.

"Well done, Cadet. Carry on."

"Sir, yes, Sir."

And it went on like that. We were taught how to make our beds, how to shine our black leather boots, how to shoot, how to march, and a whole lot of other stuff. After the first two weeks, one of my Commanding Officers mentioned that I might be Marine Corps material. So I decided to apply. I went through a bunch of tests and skill evaluations and was accepted.

Though my father was Army through and through, he was so proud of me. We all knew that being recruited as a Marine this early on in life was a feat.

So my training went on. The Corps had me finish my basic training and then called me to one of their bases for more Marine training. Twelve weeks, twelve agonizing and grueling weeks later, I officially became a Marine. I was one of the best of the best, the cream of the crop.

My first year was spent mostly in the States, going on various training missions across the country. I also went to Germany and Canada for some training exercises. My squad was made up of the best recruits in that year. Seeing as we learned how to fight together, we became friends. Three of them became close friends: Clove, Marvel and Thresh.

We started fighting in our second year as Marines. We were sent abroad for short missions in which we always succeeded. We were the best! And since I was the leader, I was the best.

I climbed through the ranks quickly and soon I found myself the Squad Commander. I was a Sergeant at 26. I was the youngest one in the Corps.

Nothing could stop me and I couldn't be happier.

I was recently married to my high school sweetheart, Annabeth Gardiner. Everybody just called her Glimmer though because she'd always loved shiny things (and most of the time wore them too). We were also expecting our first child.

I was on top of the world.

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thanks for the good feedback guys! I'm glad you like the story so far. **

**NOTE: This chapter contains some unpleasant scenes related to torture. Reader discretion is strongly encouraged even though the scenes are not graphic. **

**Disclaimer: I won't repeat what I said last chapter, you all know the drill by now. **

Everything worked until my first mission as squad commander. We were deployed on a moment's notice (as usual) and were mostly briefed in the air.

Our mission was simple: locate and apprehend a known enemy. Once captured, an interrogation was required to fish out any other intel on his operation. We were there for 6 months.

I missed my son's birth.

We managed to recon our surroundings quickly enough. It only took us a few weeks to locate our target. Then began the tedious task of studying his movements, gathering intel on the security he kept, and basically getting a full handle on the situation.

After 4 months of lurking, spying, studying and generally being invisible, we finally had all the information we needed to formulate a plan of attack. This guy was very well guarded.

We relayed all our information to Base Ops as well as our plan to infiltrate and capture the target. We needed additional people to our team, ones that specialized in certain things to help us on our mission. For one, we needed a security system specialist because he had the most complex system I had ever seen. It was full of false leads and booby traps designed to trip up anyone who wasn't an expert.

We decided to attack in the evening because most people would be in their homes eating supper.

We went in after our expert had disabled the perimeter fence. The guards were easy to take out quietly and discreetly. The squad, _sans_backup, penetrated the compound and made our way to the house.

Once we got there, we kicked the door in and entered shouting orders. One thing that wasn't in our intel was that, tonight, they were having some kind of get-together.

We apprehended our target, cuffed him and put a bag over his head to prevent him from knowing where we were taking him.

That was the first time I had regrets about what I was doing. I took a look around and saw that everyone was scared. Some of the women and all the children were crying cowering behind or underneath furniture. All I thought about in that moment was that I never wanted my son to feel like that. And I felt bad for what we were doing.

Sure that guy was an enemy but they were innocents. It wasn't right.

I left as quickly as possible after seeing that. We had apprehended our target. The first part of the mission was done.

We brought him back to the safe house and tied him to a chair. We took the bag off of his head and left him there in the dark for a few hours. We went to eat like he had been doing a mere hour before.

We came back later to start our interrogation. It started off fairly simple. We asked him questions, he refused to answer. This process went on for about an hour. It was pretty late by then so we left him there to think about things and we went to get some shut-eye.

The next morning, we talked about our strategy for getting him to talk.

"We should show him we mean business and that we expect answers to our questions." Clove said while petting her favorite knife.

"No, Clove. That's not how we do things around here. I know you're itching to play with those knives of yours but that's not how it works. If you want to play, go set up a practice dummy."

She sighed. She knew I meant business when I used what she dubbed my "Commander Voice". "Yes, Sir." She stalked off and started throwing knives at the wall.

After a few days of getting nowhere, we decided that some show of strength was needed to assert our dominance over our prisoner. I sent Clove, without her knives, and Marvel in. They started off easy by asking him a question and punching him when he didn't answer. This became routine for all of us.

It's hard to explain how, but it became acceptable to do that. Looking back on it now, I'm ashamed.

After another few days of this, we grew angry that we were still not getting anywhere with him. We escalated to beatings. No weapons, just our hands and feet. We were using him as a punching bag. One particularly frenzied night, we decided that humiliation might be a more convincing argument to inspire our prisoner to talk. The guys, Clove was off-duty sleeping, stripped him bare, while I watched on. When they started peeing on him, I started. This was not what I had in mind. "Guys, stop. This isn't right." But the frenzy was there and my orders died on my tongue as I joined them .

I don't know what we were thinking. It's something we never talked about again, but I know we would all take it back in a second. The aftermath left us feeling like shit. We regretted doing that barely minutes after we left the interrogation room. About an hour after we came back out, I stood up, unable to live with myself leaving him in that state. I went back into the room with a bucketful of hot water and soap and washed him down myself. I was sorry for what we'd done but I stayed silent. The prisoner could not know this weakness or he would try to exploit it to have us let him go.

As I washed him he turned his head and look right into my eyes.

"Thank you." He said. "This kindness means nothing. I still will not answer your questions."

I don't know why but that made me furious. I called the guys back in and before we knew it, we were beating him, not with our bare hands and feet, but with batons and our guns. We continued on like that until he passed out.

We left him there a few days to recover but we repeated the process many time over a month. When he was an inch from death and we threatened to repeat this process on his family, he finally cracked and told us what we wanted to know. Our threat was an empty one, because none of us could really do that to Innocents but it was one of our tactics.

After we reported to Base Ops the information we had acquired, they told us to clean him up and prepare him for transport. He was going to a prison. Not just any prison because our commanders were weary of police corruption in the town.

We did as we were told but let him see from afar that his family was safe before we had him transported to the prison. Our mission was now done, so they sent us back home. The regular forces took care of raiding the rest of the organisation with the intel we had gotten.

We were proud of our success. We hadn't failed a single mission yet. The methods used to achieve our success though, we weren't so proud of. Not a single one of us came back home the same. We pretended for our families that we were ok but we all knew that it wasn't. Things fell apart for Marvel and his wife, Marissa, who we nicknamed Foxface because of not only her facial features but also her job. She was a spy of sorts, specialised in reconnaissance missions. Even though she was in the Service, she'd never seen or done the things we'd seen and done so she couldn't understand. They grew apart and eventually divorced. Things were rocky for Thresh and Rue as well but they were able to work through it.

And Clove and Peeta? Well they were okay. I don't think anyone would have as much patience and compassion as Peeta. He was able to comfort Clove and get her to open up about things that had happened. He understood and never judged her.

Glim and I, well I think she thought we were okay but things were never really the same. I was around as often as I was mostly for our son, who didn't really know me yet. Sure, we had interacted over the webcam but I needed to get to know him. He was my world.

We were home for about a year. Then we got our orders to redeploy for a new mission. We were going to war. I didn't know it then but that's when my whole life changed.

**That's it for this installment. Hope you liked it. If you did, or hell even if you didn't, let me know by pressing that button named Review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Thanks for the reviews and favorites! You guys are awesome. Just so you know this chapter does not follow the song. The story is evolving in something a little longer than I originally planned. **

**For my Universal Truths readers, please read my note at the end of the chapter. **

**Disclaimer: It's the same as last chapter. If you don't remember it, feel free to go back a read it. ;)**

We were to be gone two years with a total of 8 weeks of leave, which we could take at our discretion in between our missions. We had a series of missions this time as opposed to one big mission. One of our missions was to determine the identity of the head of the rebels we were fighting. Our sources had said that this guy was holed up in the capital and that the organisation was causing major damage to the country.

There had been unrest and dissent there for years but only recently had the "Rebels" decided to up the ante and start reacting with violence. We didn't have any information other than that to go on. The country's government needed help to settle things and so they asked for our country's help since we were allies. The Army had sent in some troops who had managed to gather some information that would be waiting for us, but they had not managed to make much progress. So they decided to send us in. Our first mission was to do some recon to get more information on the situation and how to control it.

After the last mission, I felt some unease with heading back into active duty. I also felt excitement. Everything wasn't quite black and white anymore. I had started to see some grey poking out. However, regardless of my feelings, I was back on the job and my duty was to my country. I was already a decorated war hero, but I wasn't done.

We landed and went straight to Base Camp where the officers in charge briefed us on recent developments and any intel that they had acquired but not transmitted to our unit. After the briefing we went to our assigned quarters, Clove being separate from us on account of her being female. She bitched and complained to us about being separated from her team but she understood why it had to be done. There had been…situations reported in the past about male soldiers harassing the females. I guess harassing is the mildest term I could use. But it was not good and didn't place the Army in a good light when the situations were publicised. Therefore, risks had to be minimised and the commanding officers were vigilant.

After we unpacked, we met in a room reserved for our use for the duration of our stay. Here we could lay out our case files and intel reports to plan our strategies and we wasted no time in doing so. Once we've laid everything out and have a rough idea of the information we're looking for, we get down to planning our first recon mission.

"Ok, first things first, we need to do some recon. We should take a quick drive around the city and scout out the places where we may be likely to hear some information. Once we get back, we will change into our civvies and go visit some of these places. We travel in pairs and move on every few hours. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Sir!"

We go to the Base Commander and request a few drivers who know their way around town. We also make sure they don't assign us open air Jeeps. We need as much cover as possible if the plan is to be inconspicuous later on in our civilian clothes. I start thinking it may also be useful to move off the base for the first part of this mission. A make a note of this to request it later.

We leave the base and have the drivers take us to some of the more well-known rebel watering holes. We don't stop but make note of the addresses and make a rough map of the area. We need an apartment that is close to this neighborhood. Just not too close.

Thankfully the citizens don't pay too much attention to the cars which means we'll have more chances of anonymity later on.

There will be a lot of details to figure out... I make a list of the details that we need to work out on our way back to the base.

It's late afternoon when we get back to the base. We meet back in our newly dubbed Remote Base Ops which is basically the meeting room. We add the information we gathered to the Boards we've set up and make a plan for the evening. We develop cover stories for our outing which can help account for the fact that we're outsiders in their territory and asking questions. We've used these cover stories before so we have all the right documentation with us. Though Thresh and I have a few more issues than Marv and Clove. He and I look like typical Marines. We're tall and very muscular. Luckily, we get a pass since when we say that we're former body builders or make up whatever excuse we can to explain our physique. Needless to say we never partner together in these situations or it would surely blow our covers.

With everything settled further to a conference with Base Ops back home and Command here, we change and head out to find drivers and unmarked cars (as opposed to military Jeeps). We'll take care of the house hunting and supply purchasing tomorrow.

Marv and I head to the first place on the list: a bar known to be a popular rebel gathering place. We enter and try to blend in. We're in luck in that our looks don't stand out too much. We head to the bar and order our drinks scouting out the place. We try talking to the bartender but he's too busy.

As I'm scanning the place, I spot a woman among the all the men. There are other women around but none like her. She's sitting among the men like she belongs there. She's not one of the women. They treat her differently than they treat each other. And yet, there she sits, oblivious to the eyes of the men and the stares of the women. Her eyes are momentarily locked on mine and I can't tear them away.

She lifts her drink and acknowledges me knocking it back in one gulp immediately afterwards. I do the same with my whisky acknowledging her first. I continue my scan of the room and turn back to Marvel to discuss any potential "new friends". The woman comes to mind but I imagine she's off-limits. Strangers don't speak to the women around here. Not unless they are spoken to first. She may be a wealth of information though judging by her entourage...I shake my head and think of the other options.

After a while, Marvel heads to the men's room and I remain, watching the television above the bar. I lose myself in my thoughts about the mission.

"Trying to blend in would work a little better if you're friend wasn't wearing a Yankees cap." A sultry voice says whispers in my ear. She surprisingly has a British accent. The voice sends a shiver down my spine.

"I'm more of a Red Sox fan myself." I smirk taking a sip of my drink. I turn my head and look at her and my eyes widen slightly. It's _her_, the woman from the corner. I recover quickly and bring the back in my court. "You're not from either."

"Yes and no. My father was from here, my mother is from the UK. That's where I spent most of my childhood."

"And yet they all flock to you here. I thought people didn't like strangers around these parts."

"They respect me because of my father but I am not one of them. And you're right. They do not like strangers poking around in their lives. Is that why you're here?"

"To some degree yes. We're journalists looking to get the Rebels' side of things. The story out there, is that they are the bad guys. To the outside world, this is a democratic regime. So we want to see if there's something not being broadcast."

"Ah, so an exposé then?"

"That's the hope yes."

"I would wish you luck because you will need it to get people to talk. You don't look like a journalist but more like a soldier."

Ok, she can see right through me. No matter, I've had this happen before.

I chuckle lightly. "I get that all the time. Especially since I'm always in the midst of conflict and I look the way I do."

"I'll bet. My name is Katniss. Katniss Everdeen."

"Nice to meet you Miss Everdeen. I'm Cato. Cato Rikerman."

"A pleasure. Who is your friend?" She nods to Marvel who is returning.

"He is my photographer, Marvel."

"Marvel. That is an interesting name."

"Tell me about it. He hates it and his parents for choosing that name. His parents never left the 60's and 70's." I say laughing into my drink.

Marvel has reached us by this time with his trademark smile. "So what are we laughing about?" He's ready to laugh too.

"Your name."

That wiped the smile off his safe. "Oh."

"Marv, this is Katniss. Katniss, Marvel, my photographer."

"Pleased to meet you Marvel."

"Right back at ya." He turns and orders another drink. It's almost time to go.

"So Katniss. Do you know of anybody who..."

"No. You won't get anybody to talk to you. Not yet at least. You need to become part of the decor first."

"How long does something like that take?"

"It depends how good you are at blending in."

"I could use your help." Marvel stands beside me, forgotten in our conversation.

"Sorry, Darling. Helping you wouldn't help me."

"Right. Will I see you around sometime?"

"Possibly. I tend to be around", she tells me with a coy smirk.

I give her a genuine smile and signal to Marvel that it's time to go.

"Well then, I look forward to seeing you again."

"See you around, Cato." She walks back to her corner, where all the men alternate between staring at her and glaring at us.

"Something tells me they don't like us."

"No shit, Marvel."

"They're protective of her."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, while you were flirting with her, I was checking the place out. Their eyes never strayed from the both of you. And they would have killed you on the spot if they could have."

"I wasn't flirting with her."

"Out of all that, my saying you were flirting is what stood out to you? They could kill us if we're not careful you know."

"They can try."

"Whatever. Just remember you have a wife and kid at home, will ya?"

"I know, Marv."

"Look, I know you guys aren't doing too well but you still owe her your loyalty."

"Really? I'm getting a lecture now? I wasn't flirting with her. She's our in, that's all."

Little did I know that Katniss would be the one to turn my world upside down and change my perception of love and life.

**Thanks for reading! Please review! **

**Note: For those reading my other story Universal Truths, please excuse me for not posting in a while. I've had some writer's block making writing the next chapter particularly difficult to write. I'll do my best to get it done and posted this weekend. **


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